The International Video Poetry Festival in Athens attempts to create an open public space for the creative expression of all tendencies and streams of contemporary visual poetry. The IVPF has been around since 2011. It is one of the largest international platform for video poetry. Every year, it offers poets, film directors, video artists and festival makers from all over the world a platform for creative exchange, brainstorming and meeting with a broad audience. With poetry readings, live performances, concerts, retrospectives, exhibitions, performances, workshops and lectures present in various sections the diversity of the genre of video poetry and spoken word music.

The International Video Poetry Festival happens in two different zones. The first day is the Show Room Video Poetry, a unique zone that will include video poems, visual poems, short film poems and cinematic poetry and performances by artists from all over the world (America, Asia, Europe, Africa). The second day is the Live Performance Zone with multimedia poetry readings, concerts with experimental music, workshops and spoken word lives.

Poets, filmmakers, video and digital artists, media and performance artists are called to submit creative works to The 11th Annual International Video Poetry Festival in Athens, Greece. The festival celebrates and will screen a large scope of video projects developed through the medium of poetry. The International Video Poetry Festival will also host a series of panels, guest speakers, workshops, and public dialogues regarding film and video poetry. In addition to the screenings, programmers also curate a video art exhibition.

There are no restrictions regarding when the film was produced or if the film has premiered regionally or internationally. There are no restrictions on subject matter, theme, topic, or the language of origin. The International Video Poetry Festival will accept submissions of poetry films, filmpoems, digital-poetry, poetry video, Cin(E)-Poetry, spoken word films, videopoema, visual poetry, choreopoems, poetrinca, media poetry, and all films and videos that are driven visually by text or voice.

Live performances, video mapping, installation proposals, and grand-scale video art presentations that contain strong aspects of poetry are encouraged. The IVPF also calls for experimental film and video work that explores poetry or literature whether it be oral, written, visual, or symbolic. This includes non-narrative work and the avant-garde.

The IVPF strongly considers artwork that examines and challenges traditional visual communication methods while continuing to function as a tool for exploring poetry. The International Video Poetry Festival will consider documentaries that focus on poets, poems, poetry, poetic technique, literary movements, and historical events within these realms. The documentaries must have English or Greek subtitles.

The IVPF also calls for video work that explores poetry and literature whether it be oral, written, visual, or symbolic. This includes the film essay or cinematic essay, non-narrative work, and the avant-guard. We will also strongly consider work that challenges traditional and current visual communication methods while continuing to function as a mode for exploring narrative and personal expression.

Organizer and promoter of the International Video Poetry Festival are the Institute for Experimental Arts in co-operation with Void Network.

We would like to thank Dave Bonta from the influential video art site Moving Poems, a global site with the best video poems on the web that inspired us to create the International Video Poetry Festival in Athens and we cooperate since 2011 to spread out the announcement of the Festival each year so as to gather participations from all over the world.

Every year the committee of the Institute for Experimental Arts the 10 most outstanding video poems of the annual festival. Τhe committee is composed of the official member of the nonprofit cultural society Institute for Experimental Arts.

Deadline: All submissions must be submitted, emailed, or postmarked no later than 1 February, 2025.

One project title per submission form is allowed. All languages are allowed (including English or Greek subtitles)

Rules & Terms

The Institute for Experimental Arts announces the OPEN CALL for the 12th International Video Poetry Festival. Artwork based on poems and not longer than 20 minutes can be submitted. All languages are allowed. From the submissions, a program committee makes the artwork selection for the festival program. A jury made up of representatives from the fields of poetry, film and media will select the video poems. The 12th International Video Poetry Festival will not offer notes or feedback on any submitted films or projects. No revisions will be accepted once an entry has been received. Once payment has been processed, IVPF will not provide a refund. All decisions made by the committee will be final, and no refund of the submission fee will be provided.

ALL ENTRIES must be subtitled in English or in Greek. In the event that the submitted project is accepted for inclusion within the 12th International Video Poetry Festival the submitter agrees to provide each of the following rights to The 12th International Video Poetry Festival without reservations, conditions, or qualifications:
(a) the right to use footage, stills, and information from or relating to the project for promotional purposes
(b) the right to issue and authorize publicity concerning the filmmakers and the project and to use all associated names, likenesses and biographical information.

The IVPF will announce the 2024 program selection on April, 2024.
The 11th International Video Poetry Festival will take place on April 2024.

The International Video Poetry Festival is a project of the Institute for Experimental Arts in cooperation with Void Network in Athens / Greece.
If you have any questions : theinstitutecontact(at)gmail.com
Process Submission Fee
Deadline for all submissions is February 1, 2025.
Submission fee is 8 euro per video, or media project.

We accept submission only by the platform FilmFreeway

If you want to propose us a performance, lecture or any other idea – you are very welcome to send them in the following email videopoetryfestival [@] gmail.com

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • thanks so much for showing MAGPIE, even birds have stories to tell!

    April 2024
  • Great Festival and great communication on social media.
    Thank you so much for having selected my work for being screened in Video art zone!

    April 2024
  • Linnea Larsdotter Mikkelä

    We were so happy to have our film La Vie en Rouze screen at the 12th International Video Poetry Festival! We were unfortunately unable to attend in person, but the communication, and the follow up with images were beautifully organized. Thank you!

    April 2024
  • Marco Espirito Santo

    It was an honour to screen my work at the International Video Poetry Festival. Great value, great vibe, and great program. I was not able to attend in person this time around but I can say that the team was very welcoming and thorough in its communication with me and I look forward to submitting again in the future. Thank you.

    April 2024
  • Another very fine edition of this festival, one of the absolute best anywhere for presenting poetry on screen and in live performance. Always eclectic, inclusive and challenging, curated with much care by Sissy and Tasos. I love being a part of it over many years now and was grateful to be in the program for the 10th edition.

    April 2024